The Social Skills Curriculum will describe a process for developing operational policy and an educational structure which integrates academic and child development concepts in an inner-city K-4 School. Collaboration among school staff, university staff, and parents in a model of shared decision making is stressed. Social skills development is viewed as a primary mental health function. Included are the ability to plan goals and objectives, establish priorities, follow tasks and projects through to completion, organize, utilize time effectively, and relate to other people in a mutually acceptable way. While middle social status children tend to learn and develop these skills through processes of identification and incorporation within their families, many lower social status children lack experience with regular schedules, participation in elections, community affairs, civic organizations, and other goal and control directed activities. The development of ways to effectively teach social skills within the regular school setting is proposed in this study as a viable option for inner-city children. The demonstration school serves as a setting to develop, pilot, observe, and document possible approaches to social skill development. BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES: Comer, James P., "Black Education: A Holistic View," The Urban Review, Vol. 8, No. 3, Fall, 1975, pp. 162-170. Comer, James P., "Child Development: Where Have We Been and Where are We Going with our Knowledge," in Andrews, J.D., ed., One Child Indivisible, The National Association for the Education of Young Children, Wash., D.C., 1975, pp. 273-279.